HONOLULU (January 18, 2013) – Opening enrollment for the University of Hawai‘i System for the spring 2013 semester stands at 55,373 students, a slight decline of 1,303 students, or 2.3 percent, compared to spring 2012.

With a new campus in Kapolei to serve the western region of O‘ahu, the University of Hawai‘i—West O‘ahu posted both the largest numerical gain and largest percentage growth of any UH campus with 344 more students, or 21.6 percent, compared to spring 2012. Total enrollment at UH West O‘ahu stands at 1,937 students.

“We’ve known for years how important it was to build the UH West O‘ahu campus in order to serve that region of O‘ahu, and the growth in student enrollment there confirms this,” said UH Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost Linda Johnsrud. “We’re proud to be able to meet the need for access to higher education for this previously underserved area of our state.”

Kaua‘i Community College also reported an increase in enrollment with 41 more students compared to last spring for a total of 1,370 students. Enrollment at the other UH campuses either remained flat or decreased slightly.

“We’ve experienced years of record growth and now we’re seeing it level out, which is what we predicted would happen,” said Johnsrud. “Most of the enrollment decline occurred at our community colleges, which could be attributed to the upswing we’re starting to see in the economy. During the economic downturn, students turned to the community colleges for short-term training and now they’re re-entering the workforce.”

UH Mānoa enrollment stands at 19,073, a decline of 82 students or 0.4 percent compared to spring 2012. UH Hilo enrollment is at 3,901, a decrease of 102 students or 2.5 percent compared to spring 2012.

Enrollment at the UH Community Colleges decreased to 30,462, a decline of 1,463 students or 4.6 percent below spring 2012. Kaua‘i Community College was the only community college campus to post an increase in enrollment. The remaining six community college campuses posted decreases ranging from 2.2 percent to 9 percent.